Light in Darkness
by Syrus
Summary: During when Luke has set up his Jedi Academy and is looking for people to be in it.


Luke stood in deep meditation in his temple on Yavin's moon and was awakened by a noise. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. He was greeted by darkness. He realized he was in that trance for at least a day.

_Why didn't anyone wake me? _Luke thought.

Suddenly he felt a disturbance in the force. Someone was here that wasn't supposed to be. Then everything went black.

* * *

A figure stepped forth from the darkness. As that figure reached over toward Luke, it heard a person coming and quickly disappeared.

* * *

Mara Jade-Skywalker stepped into the room.

"Luke, honey, the students are waiting- Oh My God! Luke!" She cried as she saw him crumpled on the floor, "Luke, please wake up!"

Han and Leia's children, Jacen, Jania, and Anakin heard Mara's screaming and ran into the room. The image they saw shocked them as much as it startled them…not many people could sneak up on their uncle and do something like this to him.

"Something isn't right…when I reach out to the force to see if Luke is injured, everything seems fine. But yet here he is lying on the floor barely breathing!" Mara said, confused.

Jacen and Jania also both tried to reach out to the force. _Nothing_ was wrong! Just then Leia and Han came in.

"Woh!" Han exclaimed in shock.

"Oh no! What happened! " Leia cried as she rushed to Luke's side.

"I don't know! I just walked in and he was like this!" Mara said with concern.

"I think we should move him to the bed." Said Han as he picked Luke up and put him on the bed.

Mara took Luke's hand and gripped it tightly.

"Please Luke. Please be ok." Mara whispered.

* * *

"Why were you not able to obtain Luke Skywalker for me?" Shadulan inquired.

Damon fidgeted in his seat.

"I put him under the hibernation trance like you ordered, mistress. But as I was preparing to take him away, his wife entered the room.

Shadulan said nothing. She saw the silence was making Damon uncomfortable. She did enjoy seeing him squirm. Finally after the silence had settled, she spoke.

"Ah, my dear apprentice. You are weak and foolish."

"Mistress! I have failed you!" Damon said as he got on his knees and put his head in his hands, fearing the worse.

"You had shown great potential, but no matter. At least you accomplished part of what I asked," Shadulan said, " We may not even need his body. I will just work through his mind."

* * *

Luke opened his eyes and found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. He tried to reach out with the Force to get a fix on a familiar person, but could feel no one.

"Ah, so you have finally awoken from your slumber. You've had sweet dreams I trust?" Shadulan said, slightly amused.

"Who are you? Where have you taken me?" Luke asked, confused.

"You are still on Yavin's moon. I have not moved your body." She replied

"You put me into some kind of hibernation trance, haven't you?" Luke asked.

"Correct. So you do have some intelligence that comes with your strength." She mused.

"Yes but-hey what's this?"

Luke seemed to have come upon a glass barrier of sorts.

"This glass barrier traps your mind. There is no way out and I am the only one who knows the words that will take the barriers down and free your mind." Shadulan explained.

"Who are you?" Luke demanded again.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out." She replied as she disappeared.

Luke stood there trying to figure out a way out of this mess, when suddenly something like a vision appeared in his mind. He saw a little girl of about 7 and a boy at about 5. The little girl looked like Shadulan! It seemed the boy and girl were playing tag.

The boy ran up to the girl and tapped her shoulder and then yelled, "Tag! You're it!"

The girl laughed, ran after him, and yelled back, "Just wait till I catch you!"

And that was the end of the vision. This vision puzzled Luke, but he was given no time to think about it. He felt a flicker in the Force and saw Mara outside the barrier. He walked up to the glass and looked through it. There Mara slept with a troubled look on her face.

"Oh Mara." Luke whispered as he put a hand on the glass, "Please don't worry about me. I'm alright."

Mara seemed to hear him.

"I love you." Luke whispered.

A smile crept onto Mara's lips.

* * *

Shadulan sat comfortably in her throne-like leather chair while sipping some wine one night later. Damon sat nervously in a much more modest chair near by.

Suddenly she said, " I think it is time I paid Master Skywalker another visit."

* * *

She found Luke pacing back and forth inside his glass prison.

"Be careful Master Skywalker. You may burn a hole in the floor!" She said very amused.

"What do you want from me?" Luke asked truly perplexed.

"More than you could ever give me, Master Skywalker. But I will just make a compromise." Shadulan said.

"What kind of compromise?" Luke inquired.

"Give me your Jedi powers willingly and I will let you and the ones you love go unharmed." Shadulan answered.

"And if I don't?" Luke asked.

"Just know I will have no mercy on any of you." Shadulan answered menacingly.

Then she was gone. As she left, another vision came to Luke's mind. He saw the same girl, now only she was maybe 12 or 13. She was with an older woman in what seemed to be a bedroom. The woman had her back turned to the girl. The girl seemed to be in a state of anguish.

"Tell me who he is! Tell me!" the girl yelled.

The woman turned and looked menacingly at the young girl.

The woman then uttered one chilling word, "Palpatine."

* * *

Shadulan's eyes popped open, startling Damon.

"I think it is time to take more drastic measures." She said.

* * *

Mara walked into the kitchen of Han and Leia's house where Han was attempting to make breakfast and took a seat at the table.

"Is there something burning?" Han asked as he sniffed the air.

Suddenly the toast burst into flames.

"The toast!" Han yelled as he reached for the nearest liquid (which happened to be the caf) to quell the fire.

As the toast finished sizzling, Jania walked up to the stove.

"Dad, I think I should take over." She said trying to hold back a smile.

"Yeah I think you should." Han said while cracking one of his famous lopsided grins.

But then his eyes wandered over to where Mara and Leia were sitting. They both looked like wrecks. They did not even seem to see the disaster that had just transpired in the kitchen. Han's smile disappeared. He walked up to Leia and took her hand.

"He's gonna be alright. Don't worry. He's going to be up and around and getting in trouble in no time." Han said trying to cheer both of them up.

"I suppose you are right." Leia said with a sigh.

Mara seemed hardly convinced. Leia put her hand on Mara's arm in a comforting gesture, but Mara said nothing.

* * *

Kelfer flew in the atmosphere of Yavin's moon when he detected an unknown ship approaching.

"This is Captain Kelfer speaking. Please identify yourself." Kelfer said into the comm.

"Um, I'm Damon D'min. I'm a new student in the Jedi Academy. Requesting permission to land?" Damon said.

All of Damon's ID's seemed to check out, so Kelfer felt it was safe to let him land.

"Request granted. Land in Docking bay 9." Kelfer said.

* * *

When Damon got off of his ship, he left the docking bay. He then saw a student practicing with a lightsaber against a floating orb shooting stun blasts. The student saw him and stopped the orb and turned off his lightsaber. He wiped some sweat off of his brow with the back of his hand as Damon approached him. The student then spoke.

"Hi, I'm Keven! You must be the new student I heard about."

"Yeah my name is Damon." Damon said.

"Nice meeting you Damon. Oh. I think you should go inform Mrs. Skywalker you are here so she can tell you what activity you will be assigned to." Keven said.

"I will do that. By the way, where is Mrs. Skywalker?" Damon asked.

"In the main Jedi temple." Keven replied.

* * *

Damon looked at the ground thinking of his mission as he walked into the temple. When he looked up, he was shocked. He blinked twice to make sure he wasn't dreaming. There before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his entire life. She was about to disappear through a door, but then she turned to him and smiled. Damon's heart skipped a beat.

"A-are you M-mrs. Skywalker?" he stuttered.

"Me? Oh no. I'm Jania Solo. Han and Leia's daughter. You must be looking for Mara. Wait right here and I'll get her for you. By the way, what's your name?" Jania explained and inquired.

"Oh. I-I'm Damon D'min" Damon stuttered.

_I must look like a complete fool! _Damon thought, angry at himself.

But Jania did not seem to take notice.

"Well Damon. It's nice to meet you, " Jania said as she shook his hand, "I'll go get Mara for you now."

"Ok." Damon said softly.

Jania then walked through the door.

Damon looked at his hand with a smitten smile on his face as he thought, _Wow! She touched my hand!_

Just then Mara walked in.

"Hello Damon. I welcome you to the Academy." She said, her voice weary and tried from worrying about Luke, "You will start your training tomorrow. Corran will be your teacher since Luke-I-I mean Master Skywalker is not able to teach right now."

Mara was close to tears.

"I-I will inform Corran of your arrival now." She said.

Much of her pain showed in her voice though she tried her best to mask it.

* * *

After Jania had told Mara about the new student, she went to meet Keven in the spaceport. She found him waiting near the front.

"So what did you want to show me?" Jania asked.

"Follow me." Keven replied.

He led her into the docking bay.

"Feast your eyes on this!" he said and pointed.

She looked where he pointed. There in the docking bay was a sparkling new Correllian Corvette!

"Wow! This thing is awesome! How did you manage to get one?" Jania asked in awe.

"Well this was a present for my 16th birthday." He said, " So you want to go for a ride later or something?"

"Sure!" Jania said enthusiastically.

Just then Anakin and Jacen walked into the docking bay. They both saw the new ship.

"Wow! Is that yours?" Jacen asked Keven with surprise.

"Yup!" Keven said boastfully.

Jania looked at her chrono.

"Oh! I have to go! I'm going to be late for the lesson." She said as she left.

"Yeah, me too." Keven said as he followed behind her.

Jacen started leaving too, but he saw Anakin still looking at the ship.

"Come on Anakin. We're going to be late too if we don't leave right now."

"Oh I don't think Corran will miss us." Anakin said as he opened the hatch of the ship and got in.

"Anakin what the hell are you doing!" Jacen yelled as Anakin started up the ship.

Jacen ran into the ship as his brother closed the hatch.

"One of these days he's going to get himself in a lot of trouble." Jacen muttered as he joined Anakin in the cockpit.

The ship took off and left the docking bay far behind.

* * *

Damon sat in the room he was to be living in, contemplating what Shadulan sent him to do. But then his thoughts drifted to Jania's beautiful smile…

"Damon?"

A voice brought him out of his daydream.

"Jania!" he said, pleasantly surprised.

"It is time to start the lesson." She said.

"Alright. I will be right out." He replied.

* * *

Damon brought out his lightsaber to the area were they would have the lesson that day. They were to use their lightsabers to block stun blasts from that flying orb he had seen the other day. It looked pretty easy. Damon tried to focus on Corran and what he was saying, but with no avail. He was too distracted by Jania.

"Okay. So let's begin the lesson, shall we?" Corran said.

Damon got his own orb. It did start out easy, blocking one blaster shot at a time, but the shots became more and more rapid with no rest between them.

_So many shots! _Damon thought.

He was so absorbed in blocking the shots that he did not watch where he was going and then he tripped over a rock.

"Ouch!" he cried as pain shot up his back.

Then he saw Jania looking down at him.

She smiled and said, "I think you should slow down a bit."

"Yeah." Damon said.

"Here, let me help you." She said as she gave him her hand to pull him up.

As their hands touched, their eyes locked.

_Wow! I never realized how beautiful his eyes are! _Jania thought.

_She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen!_ Damon thought.

Then, suddenly, as if they read each other's thoughts, they blushed and looked away from each other. Keven watched them from afar, jealous.

_I don't like him. _Keven thought.

* * *

Keven went straight to the docking bay after the lesson.

"Maybe a ride in my ship will make me feel better. Hey! My ship! It's gone!"he

* * *

Mara spent another sleepless night by Luke's side.

"Oh Luke. I can't live my life without you…" Mara murmured in her sleep.

* * *

Luke stood behind his glass prison and watched Mara sleep another troubled sleep. It made him so angry and frustrated to see Mara in so much pain. He banged his fist against the glass as a tear ran down his cheek.

"Mara! Please hear me!" he whispered, " I -"

"Luke?" Mara asked as she stirred from her sleep "Luke, is that you?"

"Mara!" Luke cried happily.

"Luke!" Mara cried as she ran up to him.

But then she came upon the glass barrier.

"What's this?" Mara asked confused.

"Mara, we are in my mind. Some woman is keeping me prisoner in a hibernation trance. But please. I don't want you to worry about me anymore. And don't do anything rash. We are up against a powerful adversary." Luke explained.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything I wouldn't ordinarily do." Mara said.

"Well then I have a lot to worry about." Luke said with a sad smile.

"I love you Luke." She said as she put a hand on the glass.

"I love you Mara." He replied as he put his hand over hers on the glass.

With that Mara vanished. Another vision popped into Luke's mind. This time he saw another young girl of 6 or 7 with fire red hair and green eyes.

_That's Mara!_ Luke thought.

Mara seemed to be with her mother and father. Suddenly about 10 stormtroopers burst through their front door.

"No! You can't have her!" her mother cried.

"Take her." The leader of the group said calmly.

The stormtroopers stepped forward and tore the small girl from her mother's arms. Then as the stormtroopers pushed Mara out of the door, she threw one last glance back at her sobbing parents.

* * *

Since Corran had given them the day off from their lessons, Jania went to visit Damon at his room.

"Hi Damon!" Jania called from the door.

"I thought you would never come." Damon said.

Damon walked up to Jania at the door.

"Here. This is for you." Damon said as he handed her a beautiful ruby and gold rose on a gold chain.

"Wow! It's gorgeous!" Jania exclaimed.

"It used to be my mother's. I've been saving it to give to someone very special…" Damon said with a shy smile, " Come on, I have something to show you."

Damon took her to the edge of the Jedi Academy where there was a small lake. There was a boat waiting for them by the side of the lake.

"Come on. Let's go for a ride." Damon urged gently.

"Alright." Jania said.

Damon paddled the boat to the middle of the lake and then let it float. Keven, meanwhile had again been practicing with his lightsaber. When he saw them, he stopped. He saw them talking and laughing, and then he saw them kiss!

_Okay. That tears it! I really don't like him now! _Keven thought.

* * *

Shadulan sat in her throne looking at her holo projector of planets and galaxies.

_This will all be mine whine I take Skywalker's powers… _She thought to herself as a victorious smile crept onto her face.

"I think when I visit Skywalker again, I will use a little persuasion…" she said to herself.

* * *

Shadulan found Luke in a state of meditation.

"Finding new ways to pass the time I see." She said, mockingly.

Luke just opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Not in such a talkative mood, hmm? No matter. I'm sorry I was so abrupt with you the last two nights. I am mistress Shadulan, soon to be empress of the galaxy." said Shadulan.

Luke said nothing.

"You have had time to think of my offer. Do you accept?" Shadulan asked.

"Never." Luke said, showing no signs of him backing down.

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you." She said menacingly.

Then Luke was again alone. Another vision came into his mind. He saw Shadulan training with a lightsaber and a floating orb. She was about 16. Great concentration showed on her face. The orb started shooting faster and faster. She started to block all the shots, but she was not fast enough. The bolt struck her wrist. A person then spoke to Shadulan. He could not tell if it was male or female, but he could tell it was cruel.

"You should not have missed that Shadulan." The voice said coldly, "You are weak. I don't even know why I bother training you."

Shadulan rubbed her stunned wrist.

"I will train harder." She said.

"You had better." The voice answered menacingly.

* * *

After Damon had said goodbye to Jania, he sat on the bed thinking of the wonderful day he had spent with her. Just then his holo-comm started to beep.

"Yes, mistress?" he asked.

"My foolish apprentice! You have spent all of your time with that girl rather than spending it on your mission!" Shadulan said in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Y-yes m-mistress but-" he stuttered in fear.

"Now is the time to carry out your mission. If you fail me again, you will be sorry." She said calmly.

Keven happened to be passing by Damon's room and he looked in. He saw Damon acting suspicious, so he decided to listen in.

"Yes mistress Shadulan. I will not fail you again." Damon said.

_I knew that guy was trouble! I've got to inform Mrs. Skywalker of this! _Keven thought as he ran to the main Jedi temple.

* * *

Mara sat in a chair by Luke's bedside.

_I've got to help Luke. I've got to find out who this woman is. Powerful adversary or not, she will not get away with this! _Mara thought.

Just then Keven came through the door.

"Mrs. Skywalker?" Keven asked.

"Yes Keven?" Mara replied.

"I must speak with you. I have to tell you something of dire importance." Keven said.

"Alright." Mara said with some concern.

"It is about Damon. I have the feeling he is up to no good. He was speaking to a young woman on a holo-comm and mentioned something about a mission. He called her mistress Shadulan." Keven explained.

"Shadulan?" Mara asked.

There was something about that name that she could not pinpoint. The name sounded strangely familiar…

"Yes, Mrs. Skywalker." Keven confirmed.

"Very well then. I think I will go run some deeper background checks on Damon and Shadulan. In the meantime, I want you to maintain a close watch on Damon and to report back to me if you see him doing anything else suspicious." Mara said.

"That I will do Mrs. Skywalker." Keven replied.

* * *

Anakin and Jacen were just above Yavin four's atmosphere.

"This ship kicks ass!" Anakin yelled as he threw the ship into a spiral loop.

"Ok Anakin. I think this is enough. We should land now. We've been away long enough." Jacen said firmly.

"I guess you are right." Anakin said, "Ok. I'll turn off some of the repulsor lifts so we can begin descending."

But Anakin had been so caught up in how beautiful the ship looked that he did not realize that this was a new model and therefore had a new control configuration. Anakin started shutting off some of the repulsor lifts, so they were just at the edge of the atmosphere. Then Anakin pushed a button to slow them down. Instead they sped up to full speed and shot around the moon!

"Anakin! What the hell are you doing?" Jacen yelled as he almost lost his footing and struggled to get back in his seat, "Stop the ship!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Anakin yelled back as he fumbled with the controls.

"Wait! How about this button?" Jacen asked as he pushed a button in the cockpit.

It felt as if the ship came to a sudden stop. But they both looked out of the view port and saw all the stars turning into starlines.

"Crap! I don't think that was the right button Jacen…" Anakin said.

With that, they shot into hyperspace.

* * *

Mara went to the intelligence computer to do background checks on Damon and to see what she could find out about this Shadulan character. She could not get over how familiar the name sounded. She sat down at the computer and typed in the name "Damon". Nothing really seemed to jump out at her. He seemed to have been born and raised on a small planet on the Outer Rim called Xerron. Then she typed in the name "Shadulan". Mara found her birthplace on Coruscant.

"Hmmm… now let's see who her parents are…" Mara said to herself as she looked at the computer, "Teranna Mawkren! No, it can't be!"

Mara did a little more digging to find Terranna's current location and then saved the information a data disk.

* * *

Mara rushed to Han and Leia's house and burst into the door. They both looked up in surprise.

"Mara!" Leia exclaimed.

But then Leia saw Mara was out of breath.

"Is there something wrong?" Leia asked, concerned.

"No, but I do know what happened to Luke and I think I know who did it to him." Mara replied, "This person put him in a hibernation trance. That is why we can't detect anything with the Force."

"Wow. How did you find all of this out?" Leia asked astonished.

"Luke told me." Mara said, "But I have to leave now."

"Where are you going?" Han asked.

"I found out who this person's mother is and I tracked her down." Mara explained.

"Wait. I don't care who this person's mother is. I want to know who did this do Luke!" Leia demanded.

Mara's eyes narrowed.

"Shadulan. The daughter of Emperor Palpatine."

"What!" Han and Leia exclaimed.

"I will tell the whole story on the way to Xerron." Mara said.

"Xerron? But why Xerron?" Leia asked.

"Xerron is where Shadulan's mother lives." Mara answered.

"Wait. I think you should let Han and I go. Someone has to stay back and watch Luke." Leia said.

"Alright. But here, take this data disk." Mara said as she handed Leia the disk, " The coordinates and the other information is in here."

"Yes! Come Princess. The Falcon awaits." Han said excitedly.

* * *

Damon sat in his room not knowing what to do.

"I can't complete my mission. I just can't! Oh, I just wish I never was Shadulan's apprentice!" he thought putting his head in his hands, "But I must. Shadulan will have my head if I do not."

* * *

Shadulan went into a hibernation trance and visited Luke once again. She found him standing there with a thoughtful yet worried look on his face.

"Ah, I see that you are regretful of not taking my offer." Shadulan said with a mocking smirk.

Luke said nothing.

"There is something I want you to understand Skywalker. I will get what I want, whether you are willing or not. But I'm willing to give you one more chance to accept my offer."

"Never." Luke replied with an edge in his voice.

"Very well. It is time for me to use force. You love your niece, don't you?" Shadulan said.

"Very much." Luke admitted, puzzled.

"Good, because she shall be in my grasp within the hour. My apprentice has joined your silly little Jedi Academy and will bring me your niece shortly." Shadulan said calmly.

The shock showed clearly in Luke's face, but he did not say a word.

"I hope this is enough incentive for you Skywalker. Don't make me prove my true powers to you, because you know I will, and not one of your family or your Jedi Academy will be spared." Shadulan said in a threatening voice.

With that she vanished. A vision immediately popped into his head. He saw Shadulan at about her current age. She stood tensely. She seemed to be listening to someone. Then he heard the same voice he heard in the other vision. It sounded older, but it was still cold and hard.

"You will take Skywalker's powers. Then nothing will be able to stop us." The voice said.

Shadulan looked at the person Luke could not see.

"I will not fail you." She said.

Then the vision disappeared.

* * *

Mara again fell asleep by Luke's side. Luke again saw Mara through the glass.

"Mara! Mara wake up!" Luke cried.

Mara stirred.

"Luke?" Mara asked sleepily.

"Mara! I have to tell you something! The person keeping me captive had her apprentice join the academy! He was told to kidnap Jania! You must stop him before it is too late!" Luke said frantically.

"Don't worry," she said putting a hand on the glass, "I will stop him and then I will come back and find a way to get you out of this."

Then Mara disappeared. Again Luke got a vision. He saw Mara at about her current age in a beautiful dress. Then he saw all of his friends and family, and even himself!

_Our wedding. _Luke thought.

The vision brought a smile to his face.

* * *

Mara woke with a start.

"Jania!" she gasped.

She quickly found her comm and tried to contact Captain Kelfer. She was successful.

"This is Captain Kelfer speaking." He said.

"Captain Kelfer, this is Mara Skywalker. I will be requiring your assistance. Meet me in front of the main Jedi temple. And bring some of your troops. You won't believe what I have to tell you…" Mara said.

"Right away, Mrs. Skywalker." Kelfer said.

* * *

Anakin finally figured out how to get Jacen and himself out of hyperspace. He used the controls and tried to guide them out gently, with no avail. It was a rocky ride.

When Anakin finally activated the sublight engines, Jacen said sarcastically, "Well that was a real barrel of fun. So where are we?"

"Um…I don't know…" Anakin said as he studied the readings from the navicomputer.

"What do you mean you don't know? Use the navicomputer to find our coordinates!" Jacen said.

"I am! Look. We seem to have dropped out of hyperspace in some uncharted part of the galaxy. I'm guessing somewhere in the Outer Rim." Anakin said.

"Great! Just great! Anakin, I am going to kill you when we get back!" Jacen said.

"I think that may be a while." Anakin said in a serious tone.

They both saw a blue-green planet approaching through the view port.

"Hey! Why don't we land there so we can find out where we are." Jacen said as he pointed.

Anakin took the controls and set course for the planet.

* * *

When Anakin and Jacen neared the planet, they expected someone to intercept them, but no one did.

"This musn't be a very populated planet. Let's just descend into the atmosphere and see if we can find a small village or something." Jacen instructed.

Anakin brought the ship down and they saw an ocean that stretched on for miles. When they finally saw some land, they spotted a village a couple miles inland. Anakin landed the ship in a clearing near the village. Jacen and Anakin wandered through the village. They noted how destroyed the houses were. They finally spotted a cantina.

"Hey, let's go in." said Jacen.

Inside, the cantina was dimly lit. Sitting at a table in a corner, Jacen saw a girl and guy who both could not have been older than 18. The girl was very pretty.

"Let's go talk to them over there, "Jacen said as he pointed to the girl and guy's table, "They might be able to give us the information we need."

Anakin followed Jacen to the table. Jacen then introduced themselves as the table's occupants looked at them inquisitively.

"Hi. I'm Jacen and this is my younger brother Anakin. We accidentally shot into hyperspace and we came here. I was wondering if you could tell us what planet we're on?"

"You are on the planet Xerron," said the girl, "I am Kilani and this is my brother Kukan."

"So what planet do you come from?" Kukan asked.

"Well we actually come from a moon. Yavin 4." Anakin burst out.

Kukan's eyes narrowed.

"So you two are from that Jedi academy on Yavin 4?" Kukan asked a little menacingly.

"Yeah. Why?" Anakin said with some suspicion.

Kilani then poked her brother hard in the ribs with her elbow and said nervously, "No reason at all. It's just that the place is so famous, that's all. You two seem as if you have no place to stay. You are welcome to stay with my brother and me."

Jacen stood entranced by her beauty.

"Well, thank you. That's very kind – " Jacen started.

"Ahem!" Anakin cleared his throat very loudly, "Can I talk to you for a minute Jacen?"

When Anakin pulled Jacen to the side, he spoke softly.

"Look, something seems really fishy about these guys. I really don't think that we can trust – "

Jacen cut him off.

"I think we can trust them. And even if they try something, we have our lightsabers." Jacen said as he motioned to his lightsaber.

"I hope you're right." Anakin muttered as he followed Jacen back to the table.

"We accept your offer." Jacen said to Kilani.

* * *

In the twilight Kilani and Kukan led them to a fairly big house that was still intact. She pushed open the door. It creaked as it opened.

_Wow! These houses must be incredibly old! They've got hinged doors! _Anakin thought as they walked into the house.

Kilani showed them their room.

"Make yourselves at home. I shall be downstairs if you need anything." Kilani said.

Then she left.

"We've had a busy day. Let's just worry about getting back tomorrow." Jacen said as he got into bed.

Jacen fell asleep almost immediately. But Anakin just stared at the ceiling until finally he fell into a troubled sleep.

* * *

"Why did you bring them here?" Kukan asked Kilani as he paced around the room to vent his anger.

"Calm down, brother. We are doing this solely for our master. You know that." Kilani said in a soothing voice.

"I know, but I can't stand to have that Jedi scum in my house!" Kukan growled.

"Do not worry brother. Once we extract the necessary information from the older one, we will kill them both." Kilani said with a malicious glitter in her eye.

"I can hardly wait." Kukan said as he sneered.

* * *

Anakin found himself in a room. He looked around confused. He seemed to be in a kitchen of sorts.

_Where am I? _Anakin thought.

Then he heard a scream of pain from the other room. It sounded like Jacen! Anakin ran to the next room. In the room, he saw Jacen being held back by Kilani and being confronted by Kukan.

"Tell me where Luke Skywalker is!" Kukan said threateningly.

Anakin saw sweat running down Jacen's face.

"Never." Jacen said feebly.

"You give me no choice then." Kukan said almost happily.

Kukan then seemed to concentrate greatly on Jacen. Suddenly Jacen grabbed his head, screamed, and sank to his knees.

"Jacen! No!" Anakin yelled.

* * *

Anakin woke with a start. He breathed a sigh of relief.

_So it was only a nightmare. _Anakin thought, _Jacen's ok._

But when Anakin looked over to Jacen's bed, no one was there!

"Oh no!" Anakin yelled.

Anakin quickly grabbed his lightsaber and ran downstairs. He heard voices and he ran toward them. He passed through the kitchen. It was the same as his dream! He came to the other room in his dream and saw Kukan, Kilani, and Jacen, who was on his knees. Kilani and Kukan had their backs to him.

"Let him go!" Anakin exclaimed as he activated his lightsaber.

"Not a chance shrimp." Kukan growled as he pulled out his own lightsaber.

And without warning Kukan rushed forward and slashed with his lightsaber. Anakin parried each swing easily. Kukan quickly realized he could not beat Anakin with skill, so he decided to resort to brute force. Kukan rushed Anakin and knocked him down. Then he quickly brought down his blade. But Anakin was not there. He rolled quickly away from the blade. Then Anakin got to his feet and threw Kukan back with the force and took Kukan's lightsaber and summoned it to his hand. And before Kukan could get up, Anakin ran forward and brought down the end of the lightsaber on Kukan's head. Kukan fell unconscious to the floor. Just as Anakin brought up his own lightsaber and stowed both his and Kukan's in his belt, he was suddenly thrown back and a sharp tingling pain spread through his chest.

"I've been stunned!" Anakin thought as he lost consciousness.

While stowing her blaster, Kilani laughed a mirthless laugh.

"Never underestimate your enemy." She said as she tied up Jacen and Anakin and left the room.

* * *

Kilani activated her comm and her master answered.

"Yes?" The shadow figure asked coldly.

"Master, I have 2 Jedi for you that know the location of the Jedi Academy." Kilani said.

"You will be well rewarded. Just keep them where they are and I will have them picked up shortly." Said the shadow figure.

Then the connection was cut quickly.

* * *

Mara, Captain Kelfer, and his troops searched for Damon in his room, but found it empty. They ran to Jania's room and also found it empty.

"Oh no! It may already be too late!" Mara exclaimed.

But then they heard Damon and Jania coming down the hall laughing. Mara instructed everyone to conceal themselves. When Damon and Jania were in front of her room, everyone jumped out.

"Grab him!" Captain Kelfer yelled to his troops.

"Aunt Mara? Captain Kelfer? What are you doing?" Jania asked confused.

"Jania, this man is not the person you think he is. He is the apprentice of a Sith and he has been sent here to kidnap you." Mara said coldly as she looked at Damon.

"D-Damon?" Jania asked, her voice quivering.

"Do you deny this?" Mara asked in a dangerously soft voice.

There was a short silence. Damon looked at Jania with a helpless look on his face.

"No." he said as he closed his eyes and looked at the ground.

Then he looked up with tears in his eyes.

"Jania, I - " he tried to explain.

Tears were streaming down Jania's face.

"I trusted you!" she cut him off, "I fell in love with you! But this was all just to kidnap me! To hand me over to a Sith!" Jania cried hysterically.

Then she could say no more.

"Take him away!" Captain Kelfer told his troops as they led him to a protected area where he could be guarded.

Mara put a protective arm around Jania.

"Everything will be alright." She said trying to comfort Jania.

But Jania still cried softly.

* * *

Han and Leia were now approaching the blue-green atmosphere of Xerron.

"Hmm...That's weird. No on is here to intercept us." Han said, "Oh well. Leia, punch in the coordinates of Terrana Mawkren's dwelling."

Leia punched them in as they descended into Xerron's atmosphere. When they got close to the ground, they found the spaceport nearly deserted.

"Han, this is all very odd…I have a really bad feeling about this…" Leia said.

"On of your Jedi things, huh?" Han asked.

Over all these years, Han learned better than to question Leia's feelings.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go look for Terrana's house." Leia said.

* * *

Han and Leia wandered into the town, finding it as empty as the spaceport. Then finally they cam upon the dwellings of the city. They saw that they were in ruins.

_I wonder what happened here? _Leia thought.

"Here it is." Han said.

When Leia looked up at the house, she saw there was far more damage done to this house then any of the others. Leia started to knock at the door.

"Hello? Is anyone – " Leia was cut off as the door creaked open even without her touching it.

"Wow! This must be an incredibly old house! It even has hinged doors!" Han exclaimed.

"Look Han, something is really wrong here." Leia said.

"Maybe we should go in to see what we can find. I'm sure – " Han started.

Leia suddenly grabbed Han's arm and silenced him.

"Han, there's someone behind us." Leia said slowly.

* * *

Damon sat in the room with his head in his hands.

_I can't believe what I was about to do! I was going to risk Jania's life just to save my own skin! I was actually going to give her to Shadulan! I can't let Shadulan have her! I won't! _Damon thought_, Shadulan won't let me live through this but I can't let her get Jania. I can't bear to let anything bad happen to her!_

Damon called the guard.

"What do you want?" the guard asked.

"I have to tell Mrs. Skywalker something!" Damon said frantically.

"Just go and sit down. Mrs. Skywalker will be here to question you eventually." The guard said in a sarcastic tone.

"You don't understand! If I do not talk to Mrs. Skywalker, it may be too late for Master Skywalker!" Damon said with urgency in his voice.

To the guard, this all seemed as a trick, but something in Damon's voice made him believe him.

"Oh, alright. I will see if she will see you now." The guard said.

* * *

The guard went straight to Jania's room where Mara was still attempting to comfort Jania.

"Damon requests to see you Mrs. Skywalker. He claims it is very urgent." The guard said.

"Very well." Mara replied.

* * *

Mara found Damon in the room they put him in.

"What do you want?" Mara asked icily.

"Look I need to tell you something." Damon said.

"And what would that be?" Mara asked sarcastically.

"Shadulan is my teacher, but she is completely evil. She will stop at nothing to get more power. It was she who put Master Skywalker in that hibernation trance and she plans to take his powers. You have to stop her. Go into a hibernation trance while holding your lightsaber so you can take it with you in the trance and use the force to find Master Skywalker's mind. You must stop her or else it will be the end of the galaxy as we know it." Damon said.

Mara reached out to the force to see if he was lying, but he seemed sincere.

"Don't worry. She will be stopped." Mara said as she walked out.

* * *

Leia felt a presence behind her and Han in the force. It did not seem to be dangerous, but on a strange planet, you could never be too sure. Both she and Han drew their weapons (for Leia her lightsaber and Han his blaster) and turned around. There before them stood a girl of about 14 with blonde hair and green eyes.

"No! Don't hurt me!" the girl cried as she brought her hands up to protect her face.

Leia deactivated her lightsaber and Han put his blaster back in its holster.

"I'm sorry. We thought you were attacking us. My name is Leia. And this is my husband Han. What is your name?" Leia asked gently.

"My name is Sykra D'min." she said.

"D'min?" Han asked, "do you by any chance know a guy named Damon D'min?"

"Yes," Sykra replied calmly, " He is my brother."

"Your brother? Wow!" Han exclaimed.

"Is your mother here? Can we talk to her?" Leia asked.

"Well, my mother along with the rest of my family was killed by a Sith called Shadulan. And Damon is her apprentice." Sykra said with a mixture of anger and sadness in her voice.

Leia and Han stood in shock.

"Oh no! He has joined the academy. We have to get back!" Leia said frantically.

"Wait." Han said, "Let's see if we can find more out from his sister."

Han turned to Sykra.

"Do you know what Shadulan intended to do when she left here?" he asked.

"Yes. I overheard a conversation between Shadulan and my brother. She said something about taking the powers of some person. I think his name was Luke Skywalker. The way Shadulan was talking about him, he seemed very powerful. Do you guys know him?" Sykra said.

Leia got a far away look in her eyes.

"Yes." She said, "He is _my_ brother."

"Oh no! Your brother had better watch his back." Sykra warned, "See our village here? _This_ was all Shadulan's doing. She destroyed everything."

"It may already be too late. Han let's go back. I think we are finished here." Leia said as she started to walk away.

"Leia?" Sykra asked.

"Yes, Sykra?" Leia turned and inquired.

"Can you tell Damon that I love him and miss him a lot for me?" Sykra requested.

_He is the apprentice of a Sith! He will not care to hear from his sister! _Leia thought.

But then she looked at the sad and lonely girl.

"Yes. I will." Leia replied.

She and Han left for the Falcon as Sykra watched them go. 2 eyes silently followed Han and Leia and waited until they were out of sight and earshot. Then they stepped from the shadows and grabbed Sykra. She struggled and tried to call for help, but her attacker had a hand clamped over her mouth. When they were sure that Han and Leia were too far away to cause any trouble, they let her go. Sykra turned around and gasped.

"No, it can't be!" Sykra said as she shrunk back in fear.

The being in the shadows clenched their fist. This seemed to take Sykra's life force. She started choking and finally collapsed, barely breathing. The being opened their comm-link.

"Yes master?" the pilot on the other comm asked.

"I want you to destroy the ship leaving this planet. Leave no trace of them behind."

The being shut off their comm and walked away.

* * *

Kilani came back to the room and attempted to revive her brother. She shook him.

"Brother, wake up!"

Then Kukan muttered something. She stopped shaking him and listened.

"Hah! I can't wait to kill that Jedi scum." He muttered, "Then Kilani and I will get rewarded. But I will dispose of her. The end of her pitiful life and the beginning of more riches for me…"

He then trailed off. But that was all Kilani needed to hear.

_My own brother! Plotting my death after all we have been through together. _Kilani thought.

The shock was almost numbing. She didn't know how to feel. She tied up her brother and cut the ropes binding Anakin and Jacen. With some help from the force, she dragged Anakin and Jacen to their ship.

* * *

Anakin regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes. He realized he was in Keven's ship.

_How did I get here? _he thought, his brain still foggy.

Then he saw Kilani looking straight at him! He quickly scrambled off of the cot an instinctively reached for his lightsaber. But he found himself completely unarmed.

"What are you doing here?" Anakin asked in an accusing tone.

Kilani looked him squarely in the eye.

"I have been betrayed by my brother. I thought it wise we leave this planet before the master realizes I have set you two free." She said in a gravely voice.

Anakin found this highly suspicious. He probed her brain with the force to find any hints of her lying. He found none. And considering the situation he was in, he had no choice but to trust her.

"Alright. We should leave now." Anakin said as he went up to the cockpit and sat down.

* * *

Damon just sat in the room when suddenly he heard Shadulan's voice in his mind. Though it was calm, it was cold and hard.

_You have failed me again my dear apprentice. You seemed to have the right essence before, but now you have shown me through your continual failures that you are not worthy of my teachings. I will deal with you when I have obtained Skywalker's powers. _She said.

Then she left his mind.

"I have got to stop her! She can't go through with it!" Damon said.

Damon set himself into a hibernation trance and searched for Luke's mind.

* * *

Shadulan sat in her throne.

_Damon was a fool to fall in love with that girl. Now I will make sure he pays the consequences for that once I have Skywalker. _She thought,_ Now I will have to complete the mission I sent him to complete._

She searched for Jania's mind through the Force.

Jania sat in her room, still shaken up by what had just happened.

_I don't believe he did that to me! How could I have let my guard down so much? _Jania thought.

Suddenly she heard a voice in her head.

_Jania Solo. So we finally meet. _The voice said.

_Who are you?_ Jania asked suspiciously.

This was not a familiar presence to her.

_I am mistress Shadulan. Damon's Master. _She said.

_No! _Jania cried as Shadulan put her and herself into a hibernation trance.

Then Shadulan took them to Luke's mind.

* * *

Mara went straight to the Main Jedi temple after talking to Damon. She took Luke's hand as she set herself into a hibernation trance while holding her lightsaber in her other hand.

* * *

Luke stood in his glass prison. He had the feeling something bad was going to happen, but not exactly sure what.

"Skywalker." A cold voice said.

Luke looked up. He saw Shadulan and Jania! Shadulan seemed to have a force grip on Jania. Luke was shocked.

"No more games, Skywalker. Give me what I want or it will be the end of you beloved niece."

For the first time in a long while, Luke felt helpless.

"No, Uncle Luke! Don't do it! Whatever it is don't do it!" Jania cried.

Shadulan tightened her force grip on Jania.

"Quickly Skywalker. Time is of essence. Do you accept?" Shadulan challenged.

As Luke was about to agree, he felt a very familiar presence behind him.

"No, he doesn't accept." A voice said firmly.

"Mara." Luke said as he turned around.

"Let go of her." Mara told Shadulan.

Shadulan released her grip on Jania and Jania fell to the floor.

"Finally a challenge." Shadulan said as she activated her red lightsaber.

With a snap-hiss Mara activated her lightsaber as well.

"You're mine." Mara said as she stepped forward.

* * *

Han and Leia rushed to their ship and took off. They quickly got out of Xerron's atmosphere.

"Ok Leia. Ready the Falcon for the jump into hyperspace." Han said.

"Alright. Wait! There are some ships coming up on the radar!" Leia said.

Han and Leia looked through the Falcon's view port and saw five Z-95 Headhunters following them!

"Shit! I knew this was too easy!" Han exclaimed, "Leia, man the quad laser cannons! I'll take over the controls!"

* * *

Anakin brought the corvette up in the air and out of the atmosphere. Suddenly he realized a space battle was going on. From where he was, the ship and the way it was being flown seemed awfully familiar…He brought Keven's ship closer and gasped in shock.

"It can't be!" he said without realizing it.

But it was. The ship was indeed the Millenium Falcon!

* * *

he 

Ion cannon fire from the Headhunters shook the Falcon.

"Hurry Leia!" Han urged hurriedly.

Leia ran to the cannons and started to return fire. Leia got s few hits, but the Headhunters were much too fast.

"Han! Now would be a good time to do some of that fancy flying you are so famous for!" Leia shouted between turrets of cannon fire.

"I am, I am!" Han shouted back as he threw the Falcon into a double loop.

The Headhunters were not that easy to shake. They were only thrown off for a second by the double loop. Then Han brought the ship around and looped over the Headhunters and got behind them. But the Headhunters just scattered and got back behind the Falcon.

"Han! Do something!" Leia yelled as she tried to return fire.

"I don't know what – wait I got it!" Han yelled, "Leia get over here and divert most of the energy from the shields to the engine. We have to get as much out of her as we can!"

"Ok, but I'm not sure how this will help us." Leia said as she diverted the power.

Han turned the ship around and started full speed to the atmosphere of Xerron.

"Han what are you doing? You're going to get us killed!" Leia screamed.

"Relax Princess. I'm in control." Han said calmly as he pulled close to Xerron's atmosphere.

But instead of descending into Xerron's atmosphere, Han kept at the edge, accumulating speed along the way. Han brought the ship around the planet, leaving a trail of fire behind them. Then when the ship came back around, Han pulled the controls back abruptly. The ship broke free of the atmosphere and catapulted off of the planet. It was like a slingshot. The Falcon shot past all of the Headhunters.

"Hah! So I haven't lost the touch!" Han yelled excitedly, "Leia quick! Put the Falcon into hyperspace!"

But nothing happened.

"Crap! Something is wrong with the hyperdrive engine!" Han yelled to Leia, "Look, I think you should man the controls Leia!"

Then Han realized someone was trying to communicate with him over a private comm channel. Han answered the comm.

"This is Han Solo!" Han yelled through gritted teeth as he felt the Falcon take a hit.

"Dad? Is that you?" Anakin asked.

"Anakin!" Han yelled in complete and absolute shock, "What the hell are you doing here! You are in big trouble!"

The Falcon shook with a devastating hit.

"When we get back, I'll think of how to punish you. But in the mean time, we have to get back! Something is wrong with the Falcon's hyperdrive unit. Do you think you can cover your mom and me until I fix it?" Han said.

"No problem." Anakin said.

"Good." With that, Han cut the transmission and said to Leia, "Leia, you take the controls. I've got a lot of fixing to do."

* * *

Jacen woke up and found himself in Keven's ship. He sat up on his cot and rubbed his eyes. He had an enormous headache. He saw Anakin in the pilot's seat and saw Kilani in the copilot's seat! He quickly stood up and caught both Anakin and Kilani's attention.

"What is she doing here?" Jacen asked angry and confused.

"Jacen! Calm down! She's on our side now!" Anakin said.

Jacen grabbed his head and groaned.

"Oh. I think I missed something…" Jacen said as he collapsed back onto his cot.

Anakin smiled as he looked back through the view port. The smile was quickly wiped of his face. There were about five headhunters coming at him in formation! Anakin threw the ship into a spiral loop to avoid enemy fire than flipped the ship over to return fire. He managed to tear the wings off of one and hit the engines of another. But the remaining three regrouped and were coming in a new line of attack. The people flying these ships were much more experienced than the other 2. They just could not be shaken. Shots from the 3 headhunters rocked Keven's ship. Anakin realized the shields were getting dangerously low. Then the 3 headhunters got into position for a new attack. Keven's ship took more hits as Kilani frantically tried to operated the ion cannons.

"If we take anymore hits, we'll be in real trouble!" Anakin yelled.

Suddenly 3 rapid shots fired from the quad laser cannons from the Falcon. 2 struck the wings of 1 ship and 1 wing of another. The one with no wings exploded and the other crashed toward the atmosphere of Xerron. Anakin looked at Kilani and they both breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly Han's voice came over the comm.

"I've got the hyperdrive fixed. Get in tow for hyperspace so we can get outta here."

"Alright dad. We're ready." Anakin said as he pulled Keven's ship behind the Falcon.

Suddenly all the stars turned into starlines and the 2 ships shot into hyperspace. The remaining headhunter hurried back to base to report to the master.

* * *

Damon finally located Luke's mind and appeared inside. He saw Luke in the glass barrier and Mara and Shadulan in a heated lightsaber battle. He also saw Jania and Luke watching the battle intently. He crept closer. Shadulan swung for Mara's head. She ducked just in time. Then Shadulan went for Mara's waist as Mara brought her lightsaber if he around to block the swing. Mara swung her blade back around quickly enough to make Shadulan loose some grip on her lightsaber. Then Mara kicked the lightsaber aside. But as the lightsaber flew through the air, Shadulan caught it with the force and quickly summoned it to her hand. Then Shadulan did a flip with aid of the force over Mara's head and got behind her. Then Shadulan brought the saber around and attempted to slice through Mara's skull. Smelling her singed hair, Mara did a sweeping low kick, attempting to get Shadulan off of her feet. As Mara kicked her, Shadulan did a backflip. Shadulan laughed.

"You are weak." She mocked with a cold look in her eye.

"Not as weak as some." Mara countered.

The humming of their lightsabers grew louder as they crashed them. Damon, Jania, and Luke saw sweat trickling down Mara and Shadulan's faces. The battle was trying on them both. Mara continued to fight valiantly, but she was slowly getting pushed back. Shadulan was very experienced with the lightsaber, even more so than Mara, perhaps as much as Luke. Luke, Damon, and Jania watched them both with a sense of dread. Then Shadulan kicked Mara right in the stomach, causing her to lose grip on her lightsaber. Before the lightsaber could hit the ground, Shadulan spit the cell in half with hers. The 2 pieces fell to the ground. Shadulan kicked Mara's leg and made her loose her footing.

"And now the end!" Shadulan yelled as she brought up her lightsaber to bring down on Mara.

"No!" Damon cried as he rushed toward them.

As Shadulan brought the lightsaber down, Damon jumped in front of the lightsaber and took the fatal blow himself. Shadulan pulled her lightsaber back in surprise. Then she looked at him with a mocking look in her eye.

"Damon, I knew you were a fool, but not so foolish to give up your pathetic life. Not only have you failed me every time, you have turned on me as well."

Shadulan laughed a mocking laugh.

"But I suppose this would come from a person who could never get anything right."

Mara took this chance to surprise Shadulan with a flying tackle. Shadulan's lightsaber flew to the side.

Mara picked it up and said, "No. I believe it was you who was always wrong." As she plunged Shadulan's own lightsaber deep into her heart.

Shadulan looked at her wound and staggered back. She looked up and looked Mara straight into the eye. Her eyes were cold.

"You have not seen the last of me." Shadulan said as she disappeared.

The barriers around Luke melted. Jania ran to Damon and knelt beside him.

She took one of his hands in one of hers and put her other hand on his face and asked, "Damon, why did you do this?"

Damon gripped her hand tighter with what strength he had left and gave her a weak smile.

"Because I love you."

With that he took his last breath and his hand when limp. Then Damon's body disappeared. Tears streamed down Jania's face. She held the necklace Damon gave her and looked up.

"Damon, I love you too."

* * *

Luke and Mara both woke from the hibernation trance. Luke finally rose after days. His muscles complained after not being in use for so long, but he hardly noticed. He got up from the bed and pulled Mara close.

"Oh Mara," Luke whispered in her ear, "I've missed you so much."

"Not as much as I've missed you." Mara whispered back

Then they looked into each other's eyes and kissed. Finally Luke pulled back.

"Let's go see if everyone else is alright." He said.

* * *

Luke and Mara first went to Jania's room to check on her. She seemed really shaken up by everything that had happened, but otherwise she was fine. Just then Mara's comm started to beep.

"This is Mara Skywalker."

"Mara? This is Han. Leia, Jacen, Anakin, and I are now coming in for a landing. We also picked up a person we want you to meet. We just wanted to give you a warning. Han out."

* * *

Luke, Mara, and Jania went to meet Han, Leia, Jacen, Anakin, and Kilani in the spaceport. Han and Leia explained how they saw the destruction Shadulan caused her own village and how they had found Anakin and Jacen. Then Jacen and Anakin told their own story and introduced Kilani to everyone.

"Uncle Luke, this is Kilani. I think she will have great potential in the Jedi Academy." Jacen said to Luke while giving a half smile to Kilani.

Luke probed her mind with the Force.

"Yes. I do believe you are right." Luke said after a moment.

Then Han and Leia explained what they had found out about Damon and Shadulan. At the mention of Damon's name, Jania started crying again. Han and Leia rushed over to their daughter and asked Mara what was wrong. Mara explained how Luke told her about the whole kidnapping plot and the battle where Damon had saved everyone. Han put an arm around Jania and said comforting words until she calmed down.

"Damon saved us all." Luke said.

* * *

They went to the room where Damon's body was and they took it to the cremation chamber. Later they had a funeral and laid him to rest.

"Thank you for letting me love you." Jania whispered as she paid her last respects.

* * *

Shadulan fell from her throne and lay dying on the floor. She looked up when she felt a presence in the room.

"I see you have failed, Shadulan. I expected so much more from you." The being said covered with the shadows.

The being put a hand over Shadulan's body and suddenly the fatal wound healed. Shadulan stayed kneeling on the floor and looked up at the being who had saved her. The being looked down at her and laughed.

"I set up the whole mission for you and you still failed. After all the years of training I have given you, you still failed me. You deserve to die after that failure. But I could not let you die so pitifully. You underestimated Skywalker and his wife. _Never_ underestimate your enemy. That will be the very thing that will kill you. And next time, I won't be there to save you. You must now train harder and then you might have the slight chance of destroying Luke Skywalker."

"Yes mother. I will not fail you again." Shadulan said, truly humble.

A satisfied sneer crossed Teranna's lips.

"Good."

The End


End file.
